Falls among patients, especially the elderly, is a rapidly growing problem, which costs patients and insurance companies over $20 billion each year. Fall prevention does not begin with knowing how to prevent falls. Rather, fall prevention lies in getting physicians, particularly primary care physicians, to identify and assess virtually every fall risk patient and every elderly patient. Making an assessment of a patient's fall risk requires a physical examination, an audiometric/otological evaluation, a focused patient medical history assessment, and a visual acuity test. Unfortunately, very few physicians incorporate fall risk assessment in their patient screening procedures, because to do so is time consuming, and requires specialized and expensive equipment including audiometric and otological testing equipment, and specialized training. Accordingly, most primary care physicians avoid making fall prevention assessments because it disrupts their work-flow, takes a great deal of their time, and requires specialized equipment and expertise.
Thus, what is needed are new and improved, cost-effective, and results-effective, apparatus and methods for identifying balance disorders in patients and for screening patients for balance disorders.